The Paine Art Center and Gardens will address challenges facing arts education in the region, in particular the low retention rate of new visual and performing arts teachers in the first five years of entering the field. Previous community-based planning sessions determined that arts integration is a compelling and relevant strategy to address the needs of new teachers and arts education. The project will support the development and implementation of the ArtsCore Laboratory, a new dedicated classroom at the Paine, which facilitates teacher collaboration, experimentation, and art activities for students. The laboratory will be designed and equipped to foster interdisciplinary activities and learning styles, with an emphasis on connecting STEM education with arts education. A new educator-in-residence program, the ArtsCore Experience, will offer a professional development program for teachers. The initiatives are a collaboration between the museum and the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, the Oshkosh Area School District, and more than seven additional school districts.
The STEAM Para Todos project will transform a prominent exhibit in the Marbles Kids Museum into a vibrant space that fosters culturally relevant STEAM learning and exploration for all museum visitors, particularly the growing Hispanic, dual-language learner population in Wake County, N.C. The three-year project will involve research, testing, design, installation, and evaluation. The museum will work with the school system, STEM partners, the local arts community, and organizations engaged with the Hispanic community to develop the exhibit. Guiding the project will be a community of practice, comprised of museum professionals; researchers with expertise in STEAM education, dual language learners, and culturally responsive informal learning; partners from STEM businesses; creative arts organizations; the Wake County Public School System; and stakeholders from the exhibit's intended audience. Project partners include Wake County Public School System, Que Pasa, US2020, Visual Arts Exchange, North Carolina Society of Hispanic Professionals, and Google Fiber.
The University of Oklahoma will increase knowledge about how youths create information and how information professionals can help them become successful information creators by promoting their information and digital literacies and other 21st century skills. This Early Career research project builds on existing research and results of previously funded IMLS Learning Labs by investigating how twenty-four middle school students engaged in project-based, guided-inquiry STEM learning to create information in a school library Learning Lab/Makerspace. The project will result in a model of information-creating behavior that can help develop a groundbreaking approach to information literacy instructions and creative programs.
The Bronx Museum of the Arts will hire an evaluator to asses and facilitate the growth of its three signature programs–Bronx Stories, Back in the Bronx and Bronx Lab–to ensure that they continue to celebrate, affirm, and advance the vibrancy of the borough and its multigenerational voices. The museum will assess training, seek community input, and apply new knowledge gained through program redesign and implementation. It will enhance outreach and communication, and analyze and share outcomes. Using an advisory group of community stakeholders, the museum will amplify its services by drawing increased audiences, expanding its role as a cultural gateway, and highlighting the Bronx as a dynamic community.
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History will develop traveling natural history science curricula kits for K-12 students. This project will expand the museum's outreach program, featuring STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) content with a focus on Oklahoma geology, life, and cultural science. The museum will share the educational kits, featuring materials aligning with state educational standards, with teachers across Oklahoma. The museum's digitization of the kits will increase the capacity and number of teachers who have access to the material and enable students to experience high-quality STEM educational opportunities offsite and online.
Armory Center for the Arts will develop, deliver, and evaluate "Artful Connections with Science," an innovative new visual arts-science integrated curriculum for the fourth and fifth grade levels in the Pasadena and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. "Artful Connections with Science" will provide support to the education community at a critical juncture as California adopts the Next Generation Science Standards. It will also enable the center to build organizational capacity for the delivery of arts-integration curriculum in multiple districts, thus increasing sustainability and helping to improve lives through the power of art.
The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation will create on-the-floor makerspaces in libraries in underserved neighborhoods in North Philadelphia. These spaces will help local residents of all ages to gain access to technology and participatory education, and encourage creative applications and collaborative projects. Mentors will guide multigenerational community members as they create cross-disciplinary, interest-driven electronic art projects; build interest and knowledge in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics), and use tools and skills to create and share artifacts that reflect their identities and communities. Through the act of making, participants of all ages will have the opportunity to design meaningful digital and physical objects that capture the richness and diversity of their neighborhoods. These place-based, interest-driven, and mentor-guided makerspaces will provide a replicable, scalable model for libraries and museums nationally.